Archive for the 'Starburst' Category

Starburst Choozers are “fruit flavoured chews with liquid centre made with real fruit juices.” Did you catch those UK spellings? Yup – these guys are, at least for now, only available abroad.

My pack had 10 Choozers unevenly distributed amongst 3 flavors: 6 pineapple & orange, 3 orange & mango, and 1 raspberry & orange. Though the unbalanced flavor distribution was a tad annoying, the pineapple & orange were my favorite, so that worked out well for me.

Starburst Choozers are basically like Gushers, just with a Starburst chew outside. The chew was slightly stiffer than that of regular Starbursts, while the liquid centers were a cool, non-oozy goo.

Pineapple & orange had a nicely pineapple-astringent chew. It was hard to get a feel or taste for the liquid center in this chew. Still, I enjoyed this one the most, and it made me wish that Starburst fruit chews came in pineapple.

In orange & mango, both flavors were distinguishable. Mango overpowers at first, then gives way to a tart orange. In raspberry & orange, it’s all the taste of seedy raspberry, with a slightly plasticy aftertaste.

I wish I could buy a pack of all pineapple chews (I guess they do make a pineappleHi-Chew for that). The pineapple & orange get an OM, the orange & mango gets an O, and the raspberry & orange gets a –. Overall, I give the pack an O, as I doubt all packs are as favorably flavor imbalanced as mine was.

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I have no idea how long Starburst GummiBursts have been on the market. The bag says New!, but I bought it at a Big Lots. If you don’t know, Big Lots sells closeout goods of all kinds, including candy, making it a great place to go for random candy finds. For example, my neighborhood Big Lots still has giant bags of Limited Edition Indiana Jones Mint Crisp M&Ms available. I almost bought one (they’re pretty good), but this was at home, and the bag was too big and heavy to fly back to school. Anywho, on to the Starbursts.

Like regular Starbursts, the GummiBursts come in four flavors: strawberry, cherry, orange, and lemon. Unlike regular Starbursts, these are “liquid filled gummies” rather than candy chews.

They have the texture of a soft gummi (though not as soft as fruit gems) with just the right amount of springiness. The liquid inside is clear and oozy and gooey, similar to the goo inside Gushers, but less sticky. GummiBursts are much easier to eat than Gushers, as they don’t get stuck in your teeth, and the textural combination of the gummi and the goo makes them quite palatable.

The orange gummi had a muted citrus flavor, while the liquid inside was slightly more sour. Overall, it was pretty meh and not nearly as bright as orange Starburst chews. The lemon gummi was initially sweet. After a second or two, a nice lemon zestiness kicks in, and the whole thing has a good lemon-y finish. Here the goo doesn’t add much.

Strawberry was the pink/less red one (bottom right). It had a rotund berry flavor. Cherry, the darkest red, doesn’t taste like anything for a second or two. Then the cherriness comes in, and it has a nicely fruity finish.

As best as I could tell, the liquid part doesn’t add much in terms of specific flavor, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the same liquid filling was in the different flavors of gummi. Still, it was an important textural component, as it made eating the GummiBursts fun and addictive, making them OM-worthy.

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I found these in a display case along with the Limited Edition Carnival Skittles (BUY) at the Dollar Tree. They were tucked away in a corner, so I nearly walked out without seeing them. The cashier probably wondered why I got went through the line twice, both times to buy just candy.

The packaging on the Retro Starbursts (BUY) is a nice tie-dye motif, and the individual wrappers are white with colored print instead of the other way around. The flavor names are cute and clever, if rather corny:

Hey Mango-rena! – The exclamation mark is key, of course. These didn’t taste like mango at all. I got more of a sweet cantaloupe/punch taste or something.

Optimus Lime – This was my favorite flavor. Unsurprising, since I love citrus flavored candies, and the Green Slushy was my favorite Carnival Skittle flavor. Not quite as complex as the Green Slushy Carnival Skittle, but still quite enjoyable. With a bright and tart lime taste, it reminded me of a lime Skittle, but better, maybe because it’s a bigger candy. And while we’re on the subject, check out this cool Optimus Prime cake.

Disco Berry : I guess they ran out of clever names when it came to this one. It tastes like a super intense version of a red berry candy, which makes sense, as this chew is a deep red that’s nearly maroon. I think the berry is cherry, since I think that’s what’s pictured on the wrapper.

Overall, I enjoyed these flavors, though I felt cheated by the Hey Mango-rena! Hey Mars, just making it mango-colored isn’t enough. You’re supposed to make it taste like mango too.